


Back in Your Head

by evandre



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Holiday Fic Exchange, Holidays, Hurt/Comfort, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-25
Updated: 2013-12-25
Packaged: 2018-01-06 03:30:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,712
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1101870
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/evandre/pseuds/evandre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Regina brings Emma a little pick-me-up when she learns that Emma has come down with a winter cold.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Back in Your Head

**Author's Note:**

> This was done for tumblr user [chittylafemme](http://chittylafemme.tumblr.com/), for the SWEN Secret Santa exchange. I tried to add in a couple things I saw from trolling their blog. I haven't written any fic in years so I am very very rusty at it, and this is woefully un-beta'ed - so please pardon my mistakes. It starts off a bit angsty but gets better. :-) Happy holidays and I hope chittylafemme - as well as everyone else - enjoys it!

The change in their relationship had started after their return from Neverland.

After they had defeated Pan and set foot back in Storybrooke, everyone had expected a return to normalcy. Emma took up as sheriff once more, and after a fair and democratic town vote, Regina resumed her mayoral duties. But after the events that had transpired in Neverland, after Regina had shown beyond a shadow of a doubt that she had nothing but the utmost love and devotion towards Henry, Emma could no longer have that definition of “normalcy” mean excluding the woman who had raised Henry from having him regularly in her life.

The two women agreed upon a new arrangement – Henry would stay with Regina at the mansion every other week, and on the weeks that he stayed with Emma, he would also be free to spend time with his father. Neal was a part of Emma’s past, not Regina’s, and it wasn’t fair to cut into Regina’s time with Henry to allow that relationship to develop.

For what was in actuality a very messy familial situation, the agreement seemed to work out fairly well. Each holiday was dealt with on a case-by-case basis, as were birthdays, school events, and special scenarios. Difficulties and hurt feelings still arose on occasion, but by the time they had been back in Storybrooke for a few months, they had a fairly well-oiled, relatively modern routine down pat.

That routine slowly started to morph into something else for Emma and Regina. Emma dropping Henry off for his week with his other mother turned into invitations to stay for coffee, for dinner, for a quick glass of wine. After Snow and Charming’s new baby had been born and Emma finally moved into a small apartment of her own, she began returning the favor, offering Regina cocoa and breakfast pastries and shared movie nights with their son.

These new customs in turn evolved even further –

A lingering touch as Regina handed Emma a wineglass…

Emma leveling Regina with a transfixed gaze as the darker-haired woman managed to make licking cocoa-and-marshmallow goo off of a spoon into a sensual endeavor…

Neither woman pulling away when their thighs made contact as they sat on the couch watching the newest superhero blockbuster with their kid…  

Soon followed quiet kisses in the dark after their son had gone to bed, and, on nights when Henry happened to be staying with his grandparents or with Neal, invitations to stay the night for activities far, far sweeter than their hot chocolate dates.

Their trysts continued, slowly growing in intensity, but the stronger the connection between the two women became, the more Regina’s inner critic began rearing its ugly head. While she met Emma for clandestine affairs and occasionally joined her in spending private time with their son, Emma never spent any time out in public with her. No, that privilege was only granted to the rest of the Charming clan, of which now seemed to include Neal.

Regina would happen upon them all at the park on her way to work, or sharing ice cream sundaes at Granny’s, smiling civilly at them as she watched her son and the woman she had begun to lo- … _care for_ … revel in the family circle that Regina herself appeared doomed to never be a part of.  

Almost exactly a year after they had saved Henry in Neverland, she had spent the morning of Thanksgiving with her son, and then dropped him off at Emma’s for the rest of the day, as per their arrangement. Emma had given her a genuine smile, squeezed her hand in an intimate gesture that seemed to suggest she wished she could do more, and wished her a “Happy Thanksgiving.”

But as Regina watched the other woman put an arm around her son and lead him into the apartment, into a cacophony of laughter and conversation and smiles and _blood kin_ , fully aware that she was about to return to a silent, hollow home – that inner censor screamed at her _this will never be yours_.

There was no way this little dalliance with Emma would last, would turn into anything other than hot nights spent moving against each other’s bodies - not when the seemingly perfect family situation was still right there waiting for Emma, not when Mommy and Daddy Charming were still pushing their little girl towards her first love. As Regina stood opposite that closing door on Thanksgiving day, she realized she would always feel like an outsider looking in. And this _whatever_ she had with Emma needed to stop, before she got herself in too deep.

* * *

Regina braced herself for what she was about to do. It was something she actually had very little interest in doing, but felt it necessary nonetheless. And the task at hand was becoming increasingly difficult to actually accomplish with Emma Swan’s lips fluttering against the very sensitive skin of her neck.

“Wait a moment, Emma, stop.” Regina pressed a hand against Emma’s shoulder, lightly pushing her away as they sat next to each other on the couch in Regina’s office. “I said I needed to talk to you.”

“Oh,” Emma said, pulling back further from Regina. “When you asked me here to ‘talk’ I thought you meant, you know, the exact opposite,” she explained with a flirtatious smirk.

Regina cracked a pained smile, meeting Emma’s gaze. “No, I’m afraid not.”

“Okay, well,” Emma visibly gulped, clearly starting to dread the direction this conversation was headed in, “let’s talk.”

“Emma, I’m - I’m not happy.”

Regina watched a multitude of emotions sweep through Emma’s eyes as she took Regina’s statement in.

Emma sat in stunned silence for a few moments before replying. “What?” she asked breathlessly, her brow deeply furrowed. “What do you mean?”

Regina ignored the question for the moment, trudging on before she started to lose her nerve. “But you, Emma…you seem happy.”

“Well, yeah, of course,” Emma confirmed. “Of course I’m happy. We’ve had months where nothing catastrophic has happened, this arrangement with Henry has been working out, I’ve got my family, I’ve got – “

“Neal?”

“What?” Emma narrowed her eyes in further confusion and shook her head. “No, that’s not what I was going to say. Regina, I -”

“You don’t have to say it, Emma,” Regina’s voice rose, beginning to betray the agitated state of her emotions. “It’s just – things have been settling down for you, but for me, I’ve had a lot of change in my life lately – sharing Henry with so many people, readjusting to town life in Storybrooke, and this,” she gestured between the two of them, “well, whatever it is that you and I have been doing.”

“I just feel like things have been moving quickly. Too quickly,” Regina clarified. She looked at Emma with watery eyes. “I just need some time.”

“Oh,” Emma met Regina’s gaze, her own eyes starting to tear up. “Well, I don’t want you to feel uncomfortable. Just let me know what you need, I mean, I’ll do anything I can to - ”

“I think that we need a break,” Regina proposed quietly, unable to stop the quiver in her lower lip.

Emma recoiled further away from Regina on the couch, her chest rising and falling rapidly as her breathing quickened. “A break? From this? From… us?”

Regina nodded. “I am sorry, Emma, but I just think that…that I’m always going to be asking from you more than you can give me.”

“Whoa, what? Wait a minute, Regina, what exactly are we talking about here?”

Regina held out a hand towards her, imploring her to understand. “I just need some, some space right now.”

“Space. Ok, I can do space,” Emma replied, her tone full of false bravado. “I mean, you’re right, there have still been a lot of changes lately and, uh, you take all the time that you need.” She gave Regina a forced smile. “I’m not going anywhere. “

Regina returned the strained smile but did not offer up any further explanation. Emma took it as a sign that the conversation was over, and got up to leave.

When she reached the doorway out of Regina’s office, she turned back around to face her.

“This is just a break…right?” Emma implored, her voice cracking as the tears that had been at the edges of her eyes threatened to spill over.

Regina squeezed her eyes shut hard and turned away from Emma, a silent sob wracking her frame.

Emma drew in a deep, shuddering breath, no longer able to hold back her tears, and swiftly exited the office.

* * *

Emma Swan’s immune system did not do well in the winter.

Maybe it was all those formative years spent ingesting TV dinners, sugary cereal, and pilfered convenience store snack cakes instead of nutritious, home-cooked meals. Maybe she didn’t get enough vitamin C, or maybe it was just in her DNA. Whatever the cause, every time the colder, darker months rolled around, she managed to get besieged by at least one doozy of a cold. And when she had heard one of her deputies sneezing at his desk a few days earlier, she knew, she just knew she was next. 

Regina was due to drop Henry back off with Emma after she got off work, but as soon as Emma woke up, she knew it wasn’t going to happen. She felt like her body had been hit by a freight train and like the mucus-family from that ridiculous cold medicine commercial had taken up residence in her sinuses. There was no way she was going to let Henry stay with her and risk catching whatever bug had managed to make its way into her body.

Emma rolled towards her nightstand, groaning at the amount of effort the relatively minor movement took in her sickened state. She fumbled for her cell phone, first calling the sheriff’s station to get someone to cover for her, probably for a few days.

She then started to dial Regina’s number, but hesitated with her index finger hovering over the call button. Unless it had something to do with Henry, the two women had barely spoken to each other after going on what now certainly seemed to be a permanent “break.” They had just begun to form a deeper connection, but that connection was now replaced with curt nods as they passed one another within the corridors of town hall, and polite but insignificant small talk as they made their weekly exchange with Henry.

The two had even occasionally slipped back into the sort of animosity-laden repartee that had characterized their interactions when Emma first came to town. While she had no doubt that Regina would not be disappointed to spend a few more days with Henry, Emma had no idea what mood she might find Regina in on the other end of the line. And between her increasingly sore throat and foggy head, Emma herself was currently in no state to vocally deal with Regina’s mercurial nature. She decided to take the less direct and hopefully less aggravating route, and opened up a text message instead.

_I think I came down with this bug that’s been going around. Can u keep Henry for at least a few more days? Don’t want him to catch it._

She had barely finished sending the message when her phone vibrated. Emma snorted and rolled her eyes at the quick response – while she was still contemplating the logistics of getting out of bed to use the bathroom without having to expend any actual energy, Regina had probably already been up for hours, showered, made Henry both breakfast and lunch, and run a 5k. Emma opened the message, still slightly nervous about the response.

_Of course._

Well. That was certainly…succinct.

Emma frowned, her eyebrows drawing together. If anything, she had been expecting fire from Regina, not such a cold and terse reply. She sighed, her head lolling back against the pillow, and felt a tightening in her chest that had nothing to do with the congestion settling there. Those words Regina had uttered to her in her office just a few short weeks ago echoed in her mind. Had the few more intimate moments they had shared really meant so little to Regina, that they could go from sharing a bed one moment to barely speaking to each other the next?

Emma grudgingly swung herself out of bed, her body protesting the whole way. After using the bathroom, she searched her medicine cabinet for some cold medicine that would help her go back to sleep for the majority of the day – both to try to fight away her illness, and to keep her from further contemplating her mess of a relationship with Regina Mills.

She downed two pills then rummaged around in the kitchen, taking stock of her meager food supplies and already dreading what would probably have to be a run to Granny’s for some more substantial food later. She supposed she could call on her parents to bring her something, but they still had a young child at home, and Emma didn’t want to expose either of them to this cold either.

The cold medication started kicking in, a hazy, drowsy feeling enveloping Emma’s senses. She made her way back into the bedroom and laid down under as many blankets as she could find. As Emma started drifting off to sleep, she heard her phone vibrate on top of her nightstand. For a moment she contemplated ignoring it, but figured it might be something about Henry or station business that she might still have to deal with.

She untucked one arm from underneath the blankets and grabbed her phone. The text message was from Regina.

_I hope you feel better soon._

Emma smiled and placed the phone back on the nightstand. She curled back into herself under the blankets, suddenly feeling much, much warmer.

* * *

Regina made her way up the stairwell outside Emma’s apartment, a brown paper grocery bag clenched in one hand. She hadn’t heard back from Emma after the text saying she was sick, and she was beginning to worry about the other woman.

It had been a few weeks since Regina had told Emma that, in essence, what had been going on between them was over. But as that time dragged on, Regina found her mind occupied more and more with thoughts of Emma, and with regret for cutting things off with her. She had reluctantly admitted to herself that she desperately missed Emma’s presence in her life, and after hearing that she had taken ill, wanted to do something caring for her.

It was nearing Christmas, the bannisters decorated with evergreen boughs, and wreaths hung from several of the other doors in the hallway, including Emma’s. Regina raised a hand next to the wreath and knocked softly. A few moments passed with no answer, and Regina tried again, louder this time. There was still no sound stirring on the other side of the door, and Regina began to worry that maybe she was waking Emma up to deliver her care package. She decided to knock once more before giving up on her plan.

“Jesus, what?!?”

The door wrenched open, Emma on the other side of it, looking the picture of misery. She had a blanket wrapped completely around herself, clutching it closed with one hand near her chest. Her cheeks and nose were a sickly red, her eyes sunken and glassy. Emma's normally flaxen hair hung lifeless and unkempt around her face. Regina took in the sight of the clearly ill woman.

“Ms. Swan, you look…terrible.”

“Gee thanks, Regina, it’s nice to see you too. Now what do you want?”

“I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for almost two days.”

“Yeah, well I’ve been a little busy alternating between blowing my nose every 30 seconds and being unconscious.”

“I was just trying to see if you were ready for Henry to come back, but clearly you are not.”

“Clearly. Can you just continue watching him for now, and we can go back to figuring things out after I can breathe normally again?”

“Well yes of course, but I-“

"Thank you. Now if you don’t mind,” Emma swept one arm back, gesturing to the interior of the apartment, “I'd like to go back to the couch and be alone and miserable with my germs."

Regina scanned what she could see of the apartment around where Emma stood in the doorway. There were some dirty dishes piled up next to the sink, assorted clothes and blankets strewn across the floor, and, next to the couch, a wastebasket filled almost to the brim with what appeared to be dirty tissues. It was evident that no one other than Emma had been by the apartment in days, otherwise she was sure someone would have picked up the detritus.

"Why aren't your insufferable parents here taking care of you?" Regina also made a mental note that clearly Neal had not been over either.

"I don't want _them_ taking care of me," Emma said, unable to suppress the pointed emphasis she put on the word 'them.'

"I don't need anyone to take care of me," she quickly corrected.

“Of course,” Regina agreed. This was a woman who was used to having only herself to rely on, and she hoped that what she had brought Emma would be accepted rather than rejected, particularly since the last time they had really spoken to each other, Regina’s own fears seemed to have broken the other woman’s heart.

“It’s just…I also brought you something.” Regina lifted the bag she was carrying into Emma’s line of sight. “Soup. Homemade chicken soup to be exact. It always seemed to make Henry feel better, so I thought it might be in order for you as well.”

Emma looked at Regina, stunned. “Wow, Regina…thank you.” She reached for the bag but Regina wasn’t quite ready to give it up.

Regina pulled the handles away from each other, peering inside the bag. “There’s a few other things in here, too. Some tea, and juice.”

Emma still stood with an astonished expression upon her face. “You didn’t have to do all that for me.”

Regina shrugged, unable to meet the other woman’s eyes. “I wanted to,” she revealed humbly.

The air around them had become charged. This was the first real move during their self-imposed break that either of them had made towards more than just a superficial interaction, and neither woman quite knew what to make of it yet.

Regina finally looked up at Emma, seeing several conflicting emotions at war behind the woman’s tired eyes.  She nodded towards the direction of the kitchen behind Emma. “Shall I heat some of the soup up for you?”

Emma shook herself out of her daze, seemingly grateful for a break from the tension. “If you want to come in here and brave this den of germs.”

Regina stiffened and straightened at the preposterous notion. “I have an impeccable constitution, Ms. Swan, I rarely get sick.”

“Of course you don’t,” Emma remarked, rolling her eyes. She mumbled something further under her breath that Regina couldn’t quite hear, but thought she made out something about “running 5k’s.”

Emma opened the door wider and held her arm outstretched, granting Regina admittance to the apartment. “Suit yourself, but don’t blame me if you get sick.”

Regina entered and headed straight for the small kitchen that opened up to the living room. She placed the bag on the counter and began pulling items out of it, a shiver running down her spine after just being inside the apartment briefly. “Good god, Emma, it’s ice cold in here.”

Emma clutched the blanket around her shoulders a little tighter as she shrugged. “A lifetime of trying not to run the power bill up too high. Old habits die hard, ya know?”

Regina stalked over to the digital thermostat on the wall and bumped it up several degrees. “Well you’re not going to get better if you’re trying to recuperate inside a freezer.” Regina nodded towards the couch. “Now go rest while I heat up your soup.”

Emma mock saluted. “Yes, ma’am.”

As soon as the words left Emma’s mouth, Regina blushed furiously.

Emma’s eyes went wide, recognizing the association Regina had just made with the phrase. That wasn’t the first time she had used the phrase “Yes, ma’am” with Regina, but it was the first time in a while where she had uttered it while _clothed_.

Regina cleared her throat and averted her gaze. “I’ll get the soup going.”

“Right, thanks,” Emma spat out quickly. She plopped down on one end of the couch and reached for the television remote, hoping to find something to distract from yet another bout of awkward tension in the air.

* * *

Emma sank further and further into the couch cushions as she quickly flipped through the stations, faintly registering the sounds Regina made as she busied herself in the kitchen. Cooking shows, infomercials, reality stars, and news anchors flashed by as she skimmed through, nothing catching her attention.

The wind outside had been howling all day, and Emma glanced out the window to see what had earlier only been a light dusting of snow turning to actual measurable snowfall. If this kept up, the roads would quickly become a hazard, and the power had already flickered twice that evening.

“Hey, if you’re here, where’s Henry?” Emma called out to Regina behind her.

“He said that before you got sick, the two of you had plans with your parents tonight, so I allowed him to keep those plans,” Regina replied, only somewhat begrudgingly.

Emma lifted an eyebrow, amazed that Regina had willingly let Henry spend time with Snow and David while it was technically her time with her son. “Well that was very nice of you. We were all supposed to make gingerbread houses tonight, I totally forgot.”

“I’ve had your mother’s gingerbread, dear, trust me – you’re not missing anything except for the chance at a cracked tooth,” Regina quipped.

Emma snickered and turned her attention back towards flipping through the channels. The TV screen paused briefly on an image of Kermit the Frog in a Victorian suit, his tell-tale voice echoing through the TV’s speakers. When Emma clicked the remote to the next station, she heard a quiet grunt of disapproval from the kitchen.

Emma turned towards the kitchen, craning her neck over the back of the couch, and quirked an eyebrow at Regina. "Do you want me to put it back on that Muppet movie?"

Regina shrugged, poorly feigning disinterest. "Only if you wish."

One corner of Emma's mouth lifted into a smile. "I'll take that as a yes." She changed the channel back, the screen once again settling on the cast of the Muppets in Dickensian London.

Regina made her way over to the couch, placing a freshly brewed cup of tea on the coffee table, and handed the bowl of soup over to Emma. She had wrapped a kitchen towel around it to protect Emma’s hands from the heat.

“Thank you.”

“My pleasure.” Regina smiled at her genuinely and took a seat on the opposite end of the small couch from Emma. She glued her eyes to the screen, partially watching the movie but also avoiding Emma’s gaze. The tension in the air had started to thicken again, with neither woman sure of how to act next to the other. It was the closest the two had been for more than a few minutes for the first time since going on their “break”.

Emma blew on the soup until it was just cool enough to eat. She began ladling spoonfuls of the broth into her mouth while repeatedly sneaking glances at Regina.

 "I never would have pegged you for a Muppets fan," Emma mused.

"The Muppet Christmas Carol is on practically every station this time of year, Ms. Swan," Regina explained with a hint of exasperation.

"It has always been one of Henry's favorites," Regina further supplied, her tone softening.

Emma noted Regina's engrossment in the film, and caught the small smile forming on the other woman's face as Gonzo and Rizzo the Rat interacted. "Oh, sure, one of _Henry's_ favorites," Emma teased.

Regina finally tore her gaze away from the screen, leveling it instead at Emma, her eyes narrowing playfully. "Well, I do suppose one would have to be truly _evil_ to not enjoy a Muppet movie."

Emma took in the joke and the comical look on Regina’s face, and sputtered out a laugh that was so hearty it rapidly devolved into a coughing fit. She quickly deposited her soup bowl on the coffee table and brought her arm up to her face, covering her mouth as she coughed.

Regina immediately scooted closer to her, placing a hand on her back as Emma continued to hack and cough. “Are you okay?”

The coughing fit started to die down, and Emma nodded her head in reassurance. Regina’s hand, however, remained on her back, and Emma could feel it starting to rub delicate circles. It felt _wonderful_ , but all of this was also becoming confusing as hell in Emma’s cold-addled mind, and she’d had enough of the coy route.

“What are you doing here, Regina?”

Regina looked taken aback at her directness. She squinted in confusion. “What do you mean?”

Emma cocked her head. “I think you know what I mean.” She gestured at the bowl of soup and the tea on the coffee table. “All of this? You were the one who told me that _you_ needed space.”

Regina sighed, dropping her gaze and removing her hand from Emma’s back, clasping both palms together on top of her thighs. “I know, I just…when you said you were sick, I wanted to do something to help you feel better. I… I missed you.”

Regina looked up at Emma once more. “I missed us,” she finished quietly.

Emma felt tears prickle at the edge of her eyes and she gave Regina a sad half-smile. “I missed us, too. But why…what happened?”

“I got scared, Emma! No matter what was going on between the two of us behind closed doors, everywhere I went I just kept seeing you – and Henry – with your perfect family. I didn’t know how I could ever compete.”

“Whoa, wait, my perfect family? You mean…are you talking about my parents? _Neal_?”

By the sneer Regina unleashed at just the sound of his name, Emma knew she had hit the nail on the head.

“I’m talking about Neal, your parents, Henry…you have your ideal little fairy-tale family, all right there and waiting for you, with no room for interference from an _Evil Queen_ ,” Regina finished derisively.

“Regina, Neal is…Neal. He’s always gonna be Neal. What I did a long time ago clearly had some very long-term consequences, but it doesn’t mean I’m the same person now.” She gave Regina an empathetic smile. “If anyone could understand that, I would hope it would be you.”

“And it doesn’t mean I want to be with him now,” Emma continued. “Whatever had been happening between you and I…that’s what I chose. I chose you, Regina.”

“Behind closed doors,” Regina stated bitterly.

Emma sighed. “We hadn’t talked about what we were doing, or what we wanted it to mean, Regina. I – I’m not opposed to wanting more from you, I just didn’t want to scare you away.”

“I just,” Regina struggled to explain, “I will _never_ fit in with your family.”

“Regina, _I_ barely fit in with my family,” Emma declared, her voice rising. “Yes, Neal and I have history, and we managed to create something that _you_ turned into an amazing kid, but he’s not here, bringing me soup and watching ridiculous movies with me. You are. And that’s the way I wanted it, despite what you thought you saw.”

Emma looked at Regina pleadingly as she continued. “And no, my parents will probably never be your biggest fans. But I get to choose who I call family. They’re not me, Regina. If you wanna give up on me because I steal the blankets or because I leave my underwear on the floor, fine, but please don’t give up on me because of them.”

Emma’s earnestness brought tears to Regina’s eyes. “No more closed doors,” Regina petitioned.

Emma quirked an eyebrow salaciously.

“Well, yes of course, for some things,” Regina hissed, rolling her eyes. “But not for the rest of it.”

“Walks in the park and hand-holding down Main Street. You got it,” Emma agreed, a  wide smile upon her face. “If that’s what you want.”

Regina took Emma’s hand in her own, tears sneaking down her cheeks. “That’s what I want.”

The two women gazed at each other, taking a moment to process the emotionally charged turn the evening had taken.

Emma broke the silence first. “I really wish I weren’t riddled with germs, because god, do I want to kiss you right now.”

Regina huffed out a genuine laugh and squeezed Emma’s hand. “Finish your soup, dear. Before it gets too cold,” Regina ordered, turning back to the movie with an impossibly wide smile on her face.

Emma smirked and mock-saluted once again. “Yes, ma’am,” she repeated, this time both women grinning at the innuendo.

* * *

Regina heard the wind pick up once more, just before the television clicked off and the power went out for good.

“Damn,” Emma exclaimed. She got up from the couch and felt her way to the kitchen, pulling a flashlight out of one of the drawers. She switched it on and went to the window, illuminating what she could of the world outside. Regina joined her at her side to get a look as well.

“I’ve got some candles around here somewhere,” Emma started. “It’ll take me a minute to dig ‘em up…”

"No, it’s ok,” Regina countered. “You should get your sick self to bed, and it looks like I should get going before the roads get any worse."

Emma glanced out the window again, taking in the snow-blanketed landscape. "I don’t know, it already looks pretty bad out there. Look, I can call my folks and ask them to keep Henry for the night so you don’t have to drive over there to pick him up. And there's no reason for you to brave driving home in this snowstorm just to go back to a cold, empty house."

Regina's eyebrows rose incredulously. "Are you offering to let me stay here?"

"Well, if, yeah, only if you w-want to," Emma sputtered out, suddenly self-conscious about Regina's response. "There's the couch, there's Henry's bed, there's my bed..."

"Together?" Regina queried, her words loaded.

Their eyes met, each of them vividly recalling the last time they had shared a bed together.

Emma's first instinct was to play it safe, to only suggest that she would do whatever Regina was comfortable with. But they had been doing this skittish dance for long enough, neither of them coming right out with their true feelings.

Emma smiled cautiously. "Yeah. Together. I can't think of anything else in the world right now that would make me feel better than that."

Regina nodded almost bashfully. “Ok. I’d…I’d love that.”

Emma made the phone call to her parents and then went to her dresser to pull out some items for Regina to use as sleepwear. She handed them to Regina before briefly retreating into the bathroom to use it before bed.

Regina took the proffered clothing – a pair of flannel pajama pants and what appeared to be a much-loved and thus very worn Tegan and Sara concert t-shirt – and quickly changed into them, not wanting to add being caught half-naked to the emotional complexity of the evening.   

Emma emerged from the bathroom and sank into one side of the bed, her exhaustion from her illness quite apparent. Regina pulled the covers back and slid into bed next to Emma, close to her but not yet quite touching. She was still nervous about this tenuous return to intimacy, and didn’t want to risk anything by prematurely crossing any boundaries.

Emma took the initiative for her, taking hold of Regina’s arm and drawing it up and over her own hip, tucking it against her belly. Regina sighed in appreciation and pulled herself closer into Emma, burying her head into the pillow right at the crook of Emma’s neck. She inhaled discreetly, not realizing how much she had missed Emma’s unique scent. Regina couldn’t help the slight flicker of arousal she felt growing inside of her at being so close to Emma again.

“Good night, Regina. And…thanks. For everything,” Emma said. Before Regina could reply, Emma gave the arm she was holding a squeeze. “It’s killing me right now not to be able to kiss you,” she finished more quietly.

Regina’s nostrils flared and she drew in a shuddering breath, Emma's admission both satisfying the fire in her belly and further enflaming it.

After breathing harder for a few moments, she managed to tamp down the thrill Emma had caused in her. Her own breath evened out as she sensed Emma beginning to fall further into the realm of sleep.

“Good night, Emma,” she replied while Emma could still hear her.

Regina placed a chaste but intimate kiss against the skin of Emma’s neck.

“And it’s killing me too.”

* * *

The power came back on sometime during the middle of the night, Emma's bedside alarm clock waking Regina as it beeped back to life. Regina stirred slightly, craning her neck to look out the window. It was still dark out, but the now-functioning streetlights illuminated the snowflakes still cascading down onto Storybrooke's streets. Regina heard the heating system thankfully kick back on, just as a chill swept through her body. She huddled closer into the body next to her, noting that Emma had turned over to face her at some point, the other woman's cheek now tucked into her shoulder. Regina tucked a strand of blond hair behind Emma’s ear as she listened to Emma’s slightly labored, still-congested breathing.

 _Family_.

 _Home_.

It was all within her grasp again, and this time, she wasn’t letting go.

 

 _End_.  


End file.
